Even More 2017 Ebikes (Kits) on Holiday Sale - Copenhagen Wheel and E-BikeKit

[Alternative Title: Free Pants from Superpedestrian!]

 

Two more e-bike companies have offered up holiday deals, so I figured I'd share them with you:

 

Copenhagen Wheel

 

Wheel start with the Copenhagen We'll. The deal is this - buy a Copenhagen Wheel at full price and they'll attach that wheel to a kilt, pair of skinny jeans, or a pair of trousers. That's a $500 savings. (No, they're not actual articles of clothing intended to cover your privates - they are bikes named after articles of clothing intended to cover your privates.) The trick to getting your free bike is in the first line of the following image:

 

Everyone needs a button that says Buy the Trousers.

 

My Christmas wish - for Superpedestrian to offer this bike as the Whitey Tightey!

 

E-BikeKit

E-BikeKit's fun whiteboard video - "Slap this puppy on!"

 

Luckily for them (and you, Dear Reader), it's gonna be much harder to poke fun (throw shade?) at E-BikeKit. If you're not familiar with them, they are a well-respected vendor of (you guessed it) e-bike kits, and are known for great support through the whole process. They are not known for being cheap, but they are known for delivering a very dependable product. And, they have everything on sale for 25% off. Again, check the image below for the trick to getting your savings.

 

That's it for today. May you have a wonderful Thanksgiving and may we create a healthier world (and even more to be thankful for.)

Fossil Free Friday: Powered Wheels (for bikes) Overview

This is a weird but very promising category. The hard part is the Copenhagen Wheel.

Have you ever watched a food commercial that made you really hungry for something, but the place advertising was too far away so you went to a closer version of (virtually) the same thing? It's like that. The early videos and Kickstarter and promos for the Copenhagen Wheel had us e-biker and wannabe e-bikers drooling and scrambling to come up with money to send them to reserve our expensive but oh-so-cool Copenhagen Wheels. I was, at the time, broke (for which I am strangely thankful).

So, competitors started developing similar products and the race was on, or so it seemed. The competitors built their products, got them to market, and are now putting out updated versions and spin-off products. And those poor people who ponied up the reservation money a few years ago are starting to see some light at the end of their CW tunnels, but you still can't just order a Copenhagen Wheel, snagit!

So, what it so cool about these products? They are ultrasimple in installation and operation, and shipping for them is relatively cheap.

How simple are they? To be a fully capable powered wheel installer/e-bike rider you have to have two basic skills.

1. Can you fix a flat on a bicycle? (Or can you get your bike to a bike shop?)
2. Can you install and operate an app on a smartphone? (Or, do you know any teenagers who are willing to help?)

If you can answer "yes" to a few of those questions, you are ready for a powered wheel install and operation. There are even how-to youtube videos to show you how in case you have a few struggles with answering "yes".

The concept is simple. Motor, controller, throttle, and batteries are all contained in a wheel. Slap it on your bike, download an app and pair it to your wheel. You're good to go. In some cases, the setup has a dashboard, so you don't even need the smartphone.

Installing a FlyKly Smart Wheel (4-minute video)

 

What's available now: the FlyKly

 

The Flykly Smart Wheel (click here)

 

Yep Flykly got their product to market quickly. Their Smart Wheel will cost you $999, regardless of which size (20", 26", or 28") you choose. It can only be had as a rear wheel, which complicates installation a tiny bit, but many people (like me) prefer the ride characteristics of rear-wheel motors. The Smart Wheel can carry you up to 16 mph for  25-60 miles. And it's pretty stealthy. Most people won't know you are riding an electric bike. By the way, the FlyKly is an assist-only product. If you don't pedal, you don't go.

 

You can also buy a FlyKly Smart Bicycle for $1590 (cool, basic, with 20" wheels) or you can buy one of the coolest folding people movers on the planet, the FlyKly Smart Ped, for $999. I don't even like kick scooters (it's a fat middle-aged guy thing) but I have to admit this thing is a great execution of a phenomenal idea.

 

What's available now: the Evelo Omni Wheel

 

Evelo Omni Wheel - Definitely not stealthy! (install video on site)

 

 

The Evelo Omni Wheel is also available for immediate shipping. While it has similarities to the FlyKly, there are some very big differences. At 350 watts, it is considerably more powerful - so it should be faster and/or capable of carrying larger loads (like me, for instance). It is front-wheel only, it comes with a digital display and an actual throttle - it can go with no pedaling at all. Evelo also offers in-house financing, FREE shipping, and a 7-day trial period. It is also not rare to catch the Omni Wheel on sale. (The Omni Wheel available now is the second-generation model - fewer early adopter kinks.) Evelo also sells complete e-bikes, but not one with the Omni Wheel.

 

Available soon (We Hope): Copenhagen Wheel, Daymak DDS, GeoOrbital

 

 

You can learn more about the Copenhagen Wheel at superpedestrian.com

 

Daymak Shadow

 

Daymak has an interesting place on this list as a once and future provider of powered wheels. Five years ago they offered up a bike with an integrated power wheel - the Shadow. It was a very interesting early approach, but it does not appear to be available now.

 

Daymak DDS (available soon)

 

For about a year now Daymak has been showing off the DDS, a powered wheel that has the novel approach of solar panel charging. They hope to offer it as a wheel or a complete bike. It's a rear wheel setup with a 250 watt motor. You can sign up for email updates on the site.

 

 (You may be more familiar with Daymak as the maker of the Beast.)

 

The GeoOrbital Website

The MH post about it from earlier this week

 

Last up, we have the GeoOrbital Wheel. I think I like this one a lot. It's a very different approach, and (as of today) we will have big news about it 31 days from now. The GeoOrbital idea is to keep the internals stationary while spinning only the rim. It also has the most powerful motor (500 watts!) of the bunch and the 36-volt battery can be upgraded for more range.  (This wheel seems to have more options for those who'd like to do some hot rodding upgrading. Sigh.

 

May the wheels in your head be spinning as you dream of these wheely appealing products! May you be safe and may you travel clean!

Where are they now? The GeoOrbital (Powered Bike) Wheel

It's getting close!

Back in November of 2014, two new powered-wheel protoypes appeared on these pages. One was the Daymak DDS, the other was the GeoOrbital Wheel. Both were pretty cool.

The prototype was much chunkier, but it had primary colors!

 

Occasionally, I like to go back to see how things are going on these projects, so today I popped back over to GeoOrbital's site to see how things are looking. In this case, things are looking good!

 

It takes 2 minutes to install on yer big honking scooter (or bicycle)

You know I love a good wheel pun! And I love to see a plan come together!

 

I am glad to see that GeoOrbital added a bigger motor (500 watts! Big enough for bigger people like me!) I am curious to see how far they have veered from their original goal of keeping it under $500. To be honest, I expect that number to double, but they may surprise me. I would also love to know how it rides on non-inflatable tires.

 

It is a cool approach to the powered wheel, and I like the fact that that it does not hide what it is. People are going to know that your wheel is something different. There's no mistaking the fact that this thing is powered. My armchair verdict? I want one! A 20mph and a 20-50 mile range with a 2 minute install time - that sounds great to me. What's not to like?

 

May your bike take you places easily, cleanly, and wheely quickly!



 

 

Fossil Free Friday: Electric Bike Overview

Find it in Seattle

Okay, so you want to be healthier, earth-friendlier, (possibly) wealthier, and generally like the world better; but you're not a hardcore athlete, you live near hills, you have a wonky knee, you hate traffic, or you just want a cool toy. An electric bike may be just the thing for you.

In the next few weeks I will be posting more details about the overwhelming choices in going electric. For now, we'll start with a quick overview to get your mental saliva flowing. (Gross!)

Factory Built

Genze Sport $

Genze Comfort $

Pedego Bikes (they have several models) $$

Those lovely Faradays $$

The Haibike $$$

The astounding Stealth $$$$

I want a RadWagon! $

Hey, it has pedals too! $

If you can afford it, you are the average consumer, and you barely know where to put gas in your car, do yourself a favor and find a good factory-built electric bike. And spend a little (or a lot) more than you initially expected. If it sounds too good to be true, it is. Be sure to read online reviews that are not from the seller's website.) There is a lot to be said for a machine that was engineered with pieces designed to work together. If you are under 200 pounds and don't have a lot to carry, a bike with 250 watts of power should be fine. If you are over 200 pounds and or have lots of stuff to carry, be sure to stay over 500 watts. Expect to pay at least $1500 for a good factory built electric bike.

 DIY

There are lots of great kits and scads of poor kits out there to choose from. You definitely get what you pay for. More importantly, without lots of research, the average user will be disappointed with the first attempt. It gets much more expensive when you try again for a second attempt.

On the other hand, if you are a tinkerer, a maker, a builder, a hot rodder, a gearhead, a speed junkie, or just someone who craves that sort of thing, the DIY thing can be awesome.

Categories for DIY (and factory-built)

Evelo Omni Wheel

Flykly

Powered Wheels (Evelo, Copenhagen Wheel, FlyKly, Daymak DDS) - Powered wheels are just coming into their own. Simple install and very clean - just change a wheel, mount a display (or smartphone mount, download an app, and take off. They seem expensive until you realize that everything (batteries, motor, and controller) is inside the wheel. Very neat idea.

I hope my next bike build has one of these (Bafang/8FUN BBS)

Mid Drive (Bafang BBS, Bosch - and lots more are becoming available) Mid-Drives are the big thing for hill climbers and those who want a balanced bike that utilizes all of the gears with the motor. (I sure want to try one out!)

My bike with this fairly generic hubmotor kit installed

Hubmotor (Front/Rear, Geared/Direct Drive - huge number of choices) The old workhorse of the electric bike world is still a great option for those who live in a flat place, want to go really fast, or want to do it on a budget.

You have to love a name like that!

Friction Drive (Rubbee) I have never been a fan of friction drives, but they are simple and do have a following. The Rubbee is definitely a cool application of the idea.

Wow! That's a lot of stuff. Keep watching this blog for more in-depth info on these options.

May you find just the right bike for your budget, your beliefs, and that wonky knee!

Friday electric bike bargain - Evelo Omni Wheel!

I got the email this morning and pondered having the talk with my wife. You know - the one where I channel my seven-year-old self and tell her how I will do my chores and everything if I can just have this one thing?

Video Here

Evelo is now offering their second-generation Omni Wheel, they are offering it with a discount, and they are offering interest-free financing. At this point, you may be asking, "What the heck is an Omni Wheel?"

Well, imagine turning your current bike (the one you already love, have, know how to ride, and have already paid for) just by changing the front wheel. No batteries, controllers, wires, or racks to add - you just change the front wheel and put a little mount on your handlebar. And boom! You're an e-biker!

The deal

So, there you have it! If you have been e-bike curious, here's an easy way in from an American company that offers real support and a 7-day trial. You will have to do the math - can you save $80 per month for a year by sporting an Omni Wheel? Or (unlike the MH) do you have that much extra $ available each month? Oh, such tempting stuff!

May you find ways to save money, enjoy the ride, and stop poisoning us all with fossil fuels!

PS1: If you buy one, please let the MH staff know!

PS2: Evelo Staff, I am doing an electric vehicle talk in town at the end of March. Do you have a demo wheel I can borrow? It could be awesome!

A few holiday e-bike deals showed up in my inbox, 2015

The emails are coming in, all of those holidays deals on this and that and whatever else. And I am a little torn. You see, I am no fan of all the holiday consumerism. I am especially not a fan of any company that tries to sell you something on Thanksgiving or wants you lining up at their door on midnight of the day after. I am really not a fan of Black Friday shopping.

On the other hand, I am a fan of electric vehicle adoption, and lower prices mean more EV adoption.

So let's talk EVELO Electric Bicycles and Rad Power Bikes.

EVELO has two things going on - a collection of mid-drive bikes and a pretty cool powered wheel conversion kit called the Omni Wheel. The mid-drives are their own design and they seem to have a pretty legit product line. The bikes start around $2100, the Omni Wheel starts around $1200. And their Black Friday sale starts (!@#$%) on Thanksgiving and will get you somewhere close to 20% off depending when you log in.

 

Now, the one I am more excited about - you know me and my obsession with cargo bikes - is the Cyber Monday sale at Rad Power Bikes.You have possibly seen my ramblings about the RadWagon. Rad Power sent me an email about the Cyber Monday sale, but they did not give any price cut details, just a teaser. (Rad Power, thank you for waiting until Monday!)

 

 

The RadWagon costs $1700. The RadRover is $1500. Who knows what the sale will be? If it's a BOGO sale, give me a call!

 

May you find an e-bike or a powered wheel under your tree, and may it carry you on many petroleum-free adventures and commutes.

 

PS. I'll let you know if you I get any more cool emails.

Another Look at Daymak Electric Bikes and Scooters and Such

Once in a while I re-post desktop vacation videos. You may have caught one of the Danny Macaskill videos, the ones I sometimes head to for a ten-minute mindsweeper. Sometimes it's all the break I need to prepare me for another couple of hours of work.

Well, my next recommendation is not quite that, but for those of you who are interested in electric bikes and scooters, you might find this one intriguing.

Getting to the video: Just go to daymak.com and don't click on anything. Daymak has a random shuffle going with lots of video of their products. (People keep asking about my dream job, I think I'd like to shoot, edit, and produce Daymak videos for a living.) Enjoy the videos, but don't expect any Danny Macaskill stuff.

[Blogger note: I have never seen a Daymak product in person.]

You see, Daymak intrigues me. I had seen them in the past and discounted them as a distributor of some really mediocre looking Chinese e-bikes and scooters. Then their break-out product hit Kickstarter, and I started paying better attention. It was the Beast. They met their Kickstarter goal and delivered their product in a timely manner.  And people even seem to be happy with them.

So, I did a little more research and found that Daymak had previously created a predecessor to the powered wheels (Flykly, Copenhagen Wheel, Evelo, etc.) that are all the rage these days and put it in a bright yellow bike. And it's actually pretty cool when you check it out.

Daymak Shadow

 

On the heels of the Beast came the Daymak Drive System. Or maybe I used the wrong verb tense since it has still not made it to production. The DDS is very much like the Copenhagen wheel and such with the added bonus of built in solar panels for supplemental charging. And they've hoped to bring it in at considerably less money than those others. Still waiting, but I look forward to seeing what it turns into.

 

Daymak DDS

 

The most recent innovative product from Daymak? Well, it may not be that innovative, but it does look like a game-changer among e-bikes. At first glance it seems a pretty standard machine. A hardtail hybrid, twenty-one speed with a low-powered front hub motor and a removable lithium battery. What makes it exceptional is its really low weight and its really low price and its exotic material list. An e-bike under 35 (or even 28) pounds, under $2000, and made out of carbon fiber. And if you jump on the Kickstarter train, it can be had under $1000. And this from a company that has actually delivered on what seemed like a long-shot Kickstarter - the Beast. (And it's pretty sexy in black suede.)

 

Daymak EC1 Kickstarter

 

Yep, Daymak keeps surprising me, especially for a company that offers things that look like this:

 

 

May Daymak keep surprising us, and may we keep having new and better options for staying away from gasoline while having a very enjoyable ride.



Good News Everyone: Flykly, Copenhagen Wheel, and Fido

Emails from Fido and Superpedestrian came in this week, and Flykly has a new product and a new kickstarter to kick it off.

Simple and cool: the Fido

I will start with my favorite. Jeb Gast and crew (all of whom I hope to meet someday) are entrepreneurial scooter heroes to me. I have followed Jeb's story for years because I have followed electric scooters in the states, and he has been present throughout my searches. I first discovered him running a shop called Soundspeed Scooters in Seattle. He worked with gas and electric scooters there and even created a conversion kit for turning your old Earth-hating Vespa into a beautiful green machine. If you google "electric Vespa" you can still find lots of info about those Seattle days and scoots.

But Jeb (apparently) discovered the same thing I discovered when I converted an old Vespa to electric - they don't make the ideal electric scooter. I went looking for better candidates to convert; Jeb decided to create a better scooter. So, he designed such a beast and then set off on the daunting task of going from an idea and one machine to a full-fledged manufacturer of a high-quality, user-friendly scooters - the Fido.

And, if you know vintage scooters, you will probably recognize vintage design elements adapted for a modern machine: the simplicity of the old Cushmans, the simple maintenance of the Vespas with their easily removable wheels, and the strength and simplicity of the Lambretta's tubular frames. Did you notice that I used the world "simplicity" too many times? Well, that was part of Gast's plan. He wanted to build a machine that the end user could easily maintain and even repair if need be.  Good shops to service scooters are hard to find and afford, so he wanted to build a scooter for the common human being with simple tools.

I look at lots of electric two-wheeler plans and companies, and I admire this machine and company more than most anything I have seen. I hope they thrive, and I get excited each time I receive an email update from Fido. Which I did this week. There was news of lots of testing, a new employee, and updates to their really cool digs in Kalamazoo. They report that they are heading into pre-production. Yes, I am excited for the Fido team!

Check out the Fido blog here and enjoy the short video of the Fido in action.

Flykly Smart Ped: What a great idea!

Flykly has a new product out, and this one is a scooter, and it makes a lot of sense. I will readily admit that I am not a huge fan of kick-n-go scooters. If I were 37 years younger I would be a big fan, but being the oldfatguy that I am, they just don't hold that much appeal, but the new Flykly scooter might just get me past my oldfatguy prejudices.

Folded Flykly

It's a small, foldable machine that could help you with mid-distance or last-mile travel and replace a bike or electric bike for lots of tasks. It seems a perfect application of the powered wheel, possibly even a better application than the electric bicycle. (It feels a little sacrilegious to type that.) (And I have to say it - Flykly is putting out a second product while the oh-so-long-awaited Copenhagen Wheel is just starting to roll.) Check out the scooter and the kickstarter to learn more.

I hope you like red!

Superpedestrian (Copenhagen Wheel) sent out an email this week. The email communicates that things are heating up for them - they even feature a video of a person in the real world who has actually finally received one: video here. It looks like they may actually get a product out there. (I am still thankful that I did not ask my family to sacrifice the "deposit" money to pre-order a CW two years ago when the opportunity was first put out there. I would have had to do a lot of apologizing and regretting.)

The most exciting part of the email for me is that it also features a Copenhagen Wheel review from Electric Bike Review. It's a very comprehensive review and answers a lot of questions about the CW. Even the comments are worth a read. (If you like e-bikes and you don't yet know EBR, you are in for a treat. Enjoy!) It really should be an amazing product and good enough to get past the bitterness of vastly delayed delivery.

May your week bring lots of good news and may you find the wheels that reward you and and the planet.

Tiny Houses: Are we using the right adjective?

Tiny Houses Real and Imagined

 

From the earliest days of this blog, the posts about tiny houses have been some of the most popular. (I keep trying to market a reality show where Mad Max and the Copenhagen Wheel live in a tiny house together. I think I could retire early if I could get that one project off the ground.)

 

For you tiny house fanatics out there

 

My wife and I live in a 1500 square foot house – it’s closer to 1900 square feet if you count my favorite part of the house, the garage. We have a phenomenal young lady in college who is home for holidays and summers. We definitely don’t live in a tiny house, but it’s no McMansion either. For years it seemed to be on the small side of medium. We’d visit friends in their much bigger houses and we would consider ours quite modest.

Tiny Houses, Grain-Bin Houses: Going Full Circle

Even so, our house is quite a handful to keep up with. The bigger the house, the more you pay in utilities, taxes, and insurance. And our house is ancient - 17 years older than I am! The yard is huge. We have some monstrous elms that need a lot of maintenance. It needs painting. We recently had a leak in the attic that brought down the ceiling. There’s water damage on the back porch. The sidewalk is crumbling. The floors need refinishing. The list goes on and on and grows much faster than we are stemming the tide. But we spend most of our time, money, and resources pursuing and maintaining other things – like family, dogs, education, gardening, and restoring/maintaining things with wheels. (Yes, I can admit I have a problem.) The same is true for most of the people and houses around us.

Texas Tiny House Boot Camp

 

So, when I see a tiny house or a tiny house article, a simple side of my brain sighs and thinks, Wow, less house means less debt less maintenance less stuff less worry less worry less worry less worry better life. That simple side of my brain is repetitive and has little patience with commas.

Your chance to see a tiny house from your not-so-tiny living room

 

But a different simple side of the brain pipes up and asks some really tough questions. Where would you put the recliner? How bad would it be when the dogs fart? (They do that a lot.) Would the West Texas wind huff and puff and blow our house over? Helloooo! Aren’t we big on personal space around here?

The perfect vehicle for tiny-house people

The general consensus among all of the simple sides is that we do not need or really want a tiny house. On the other hand, as we look at ways of being good stewards and caretakers, of having more time and more money to enjoy the world and people around us, the question starts growing of whether or not a change in adjective may make all the difference. How about replacing tiny with smaller? How about a house that requires less but offers enough?

In fantasizing about the extremes, may you find the just right.

(For more MH tiny houses, please click here.)